pc to ly
92 unitsResult3.261564e+0
3.261563777ly
1 pc × 3.261563777 = 3.261563777 ly
Convert Parsec to Light year (pc to ly)
1 parsec = 3.261563777 light years. Convert parsecs to light years instantly, with the exact factor, the formula and a reference table of common values.
Formula
light years = parsecs × 3.261563777
pc to ly conversion table
| pc | ly |
|---|---|
| 1 pc | 3.261563777 ly |
| 2 pc | 6.523127554 ly |
| 3 pc | 9.784691331 ly |
| 5 pc | 16.30781888 ly |
| 10 pc | 32.61563777 ly |
| 20 pc | 65.23127554 ly |
| 50 pc | 163.0781888 ly |
| 100 pc | 326.1563777 ly |
| 250 pc | 815.3909442 ly |
| 500 pc | 1630.781888 ly |
| 1000 pc | 3261.563777 ly |
What is a parsec?
A parsec is about 3.26 light years, or roughly 30.9 trillion kilometers. The name is short for "parallax second," because it comes from a measuring trick: a star one parsec away appears to shift by one arcsecond as the Earth moves across its orbit.
Professional astronomers usually prefer parsecs to light years, and they scale it up for bigger jobs — kiloparsecs for distances inside a galaxy and megaparsecs for the gaps between galaxies.
In writing, the parsec is usually shortened to "pc". One parsec is 3.085678e+16 meters, and that ratio is what every figure on this page is built from.